Cut off the fan guards/case preforations??

[dalfollo]

I am moding my case a little trying to bring the noise down and improve cooling...on my cube case on the HD side i have two 80mm fans that sit on the inside...i am thinking of moving the fans to outside of the case to provide better room for cabling and such...

while i have the casse apart, i was thinking of cutting off the preforated sheetmetal that the fan usually blow through....seems to me that it would provide better airflow, and maybe cut down on some of the noise of the air being forced through the holes...any feedback?

there will be protection from simple wire covers...like the cheap ones that come with fans typicaly..thanks.

 

[SilverBack]

I did the same thing to my case for the 120mm fans, I mounted a radiator to the outside however.
I don't know how much increased airflow there is, but you would think it would have to be some!

 

[kparis]

go right ahead and do it your noise and airflow will improve drastically. On my xaser the sheet metal mbasically has holes drilled throught it for the air to pass throuhg, i cut it all off and i estimate that airflow on the fans i modded has at least doubled

regs
Kurt

 

[dalfollo]

great...i'll get my nipper, snippers and cutters out...might even have to pull out the dremel...

 

[SilverBack]

Dremel with good cutting disks works great.
I think I went through 3 when I did both of mine.

 

[Jeff7]

When I was in a case-modding binge awhile ago, I sliced the lousy perforated fan holes out of all my cases, and out of a few power supplies too, and replaced them all with chrome wire grilles, or in some, filters. I don't know about noise, but it definitely helped airflow.

 

[Slogun]

I would love to do this type of mod on my cases. I would have to buy a dremel however and learn how to use it.
I am also concerned with how nice I can make a round fan hole, don't want to screw up my nice Lian-Li cases.

Any thoughts?

 

[chadomaly]

I cut out the rear exhaust grilles on my Lian-Li PC-6077. Used a dremel and HD cutting wheels. Cut through the aluminum like butter, very clean cuts. Do practice though so you have a steady hand and don't slip, the aluminum will show slips more than a steel case would.

 

[pspada]

I cut the grills out on my STEEL case with dull wire clippers. Can you say blisters? And my hand was so cramped I could not use it for 2 days.

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: crleap
I cut out the rear exhaust grilles on my Lian-Li PC-6077. Used a dremel and HD cutting wheels. Cut through the aluminum like butter, very clean cuts. Do practice though so you have a steady hand and don't slip, the aluminum will show slips more than a steel case would.

You know I'm a noob with a dremel..what're HD cutting wheels.

 

[lenjack]

pspada...Me too...What a "pain".

 

[klah]

Originally posted by: Slogun

Originally posted by: crleap
I cut out the rear exhaust grilles on my Lian-Li PC-6077. Used a dremel and HD cutting wheels. Cut through the aluminum like butter, very clean cuts. Do practice though so you have a steady hand and don't slip, the aluminum will show slips more than a steel case would.

You know I'm a noob with a dremel..what're HD cutting wheels.

Heavy Duty. I use the #420 ($0.25) and they cut through aluminum easily. If those are flying apart on you they also have a diamond-coated wheel that is around $15. I think they give you some #409 wheels with the tool and those are practically worthless, I think I shattered half of them just screwing them down. If you are worried about the appearance you can cut it a little small and then run around the inside with one of the grinding bits to get it close to your markings. Of course you can also run rubber or chrome window molding around the cutout.

 

[Slogun]

Thanks klah.

I haven't seen chrome molding. Where do you get that?

 

[HappyPuppy]

The first thing I did to my Lian Li PC70 was cut all the fan holes out with a jigsaw.

 

[dalfollo]

one nice way to finish off a hole is with door trim from a car store like pepboys or carquest...it comes in black clear silver...maybe colors...it is the stuff you might put on the edge of a door so you don't ding other cars...

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: klah

Originally posted by: Slogun

Originally posted by: crleap
I cut out the rear exhaust grilles on my Lian-Li PC-6077. Used a dremel and HD cutting wheels. Cut through the aluminum like butter, very clean cuts. Do practice though so you have a steady hand and don't slip, the aluminum will show slips more than a steel case would.

You know I'm a noob with a dremel..what're HD cutting wheels.

Heavy Duty. I use the #420 ($0.25) and they cut through aluminum easily. If those are flying apart on you they also have a diamond-coated wheel that is around $15. I think they give you some #409 wheels with the tool and those are practically worthless, I think I shattered half of them just screwing them down. If you are worried about the appearance you can cut it a little small and then run around the inside with one of the grinding bits to get it close to your markings. Of course you can also run rubber or chrome window molding around the cutout.

Or get their fiberglass-reinforced cutting wheels. They're not as expensive as diamond, but they last a lot longer than the heavy duty wheels. They can take a lot of pressure and speed. If you thought the HD wheels went through steel easily, try the reinforced wheels.

 

[Baronz]

Diamond arent that expensive if you get the cheapo ones...they do last about 10x longer though, dremels rule

 

[SuperPickle]

If you're going to finish the cuts by grinding the edges (recommended), pick up a set of metal file/rasp bits. The grinding stones work, but the file bits work much quicker, do a cleaner job, and last much longer.

 

[Slogun]

While were on the topic of dremels here, any advice on what type of model dremel to buy?

 

[SuperPickle]

Originally posted by: Slogun
While were on the topic of dremels here, any advice on what type of model dremel to buy?

one with variable speed. that's probably my #1 suggestion. There are times when that slight speed adjustment is very nice to have. the cost increase of the premium kits are mostly just the number of accessories -- good, but perhaps not essential.

 

[klah]

Originally posted by: Slogun
Thanks klah.

I haven't seen chrome molding. Where do you get that?

As someone mentioned before they sell it at most auto parts stores as door and wheel well trim. It is also available at most places online that sell case mod materials such as directron, xpcases, etc.

 

[Blooz1]

Flexible moulding will be much cheaper at an auto parts store than any you'll find at a mod shop. I got 2-3' pieces for about $5 the last time I bought some. This moulding is pretty thick, though, and it takes patience to do corners neatly.

You can also get rubber "c" shaped moulding from industrial places, such as McMaster-Carr, for MUCH cheaper than any other source.! McMaster sells a rubber moulding that's perfect for this application, p/n 8510K11 found on cat. page 3428 (shape #12) for only $.19 a foot, as opposed to $1.50/foot at most case mod places. This stuff is VERY flexible and is great to work with.

 

[0roo0roo]

search the web for modding/blowholes etc. tons of tutorials on how to cut cases and stuff. and yes, if you have a cheesy case with tiny fan holes, they gotta go!! those reduce fan effectiveness horribly. making a larger hole and mounting a largest fan possible is always best of course.

fan hole templates are found off google. course with hole saw u don't need one.

 

[Thor86]

Dremeled my Lian Li PC70 rear exhaust fan case grills (4) as well. Much better airflow, and only broke one cutter disc.

It's best when using Dremels to "grind" the metal, rather than put too much pressure down on the metal to try and "cut" it.

Dremels rule.